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The Peel police board, signaling again that its new members want radical change, has called for an independent audit of the force’s diversity and equity practices following Tuesday’s blistering critique of Chief Jennifer Evans by a local anti-discrimination group.

“We feel that Peel police has to acknowledge that there is racism before they’re willing to do anything about it,” Ranjit Khatkur, chair of the Peel Coalition Against Racialized Discrimination (P-CARD), told the board during her delegation at its meeting.

She said her group’s report outlining numerous examples of misconduct and inequity in the force was meant to “highlight the lack of faith in the Peel chief’s leadership… She (Evans) has failed us.”

Khatkur’s searing 10-minute speech cited Evans’ refusal last year to suspend carding despite the board’s request that she do so and characterized Evans’ efforts to address complaints about inequity as “lip service” that only added to the community’s mounting frustration.

The chief, asked by the board if she would like to respond, appeared shocked and replied: “No, I’ve actually got no comments.”

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But while Evans sat silently, Amrik Ahluwalia, who was elected chair of the board in a February vote, quickly jumped to her defence.

“I have had the privilege of working with the chief for the last four or five months,” he stated. “I have a lot of trust and faith in Chief Jennifer Evans.”

Despite the supportive words, ultimately Ahluwalia, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and other board members present agreed with Khatkur’s recommendation to conduct an independent, third-party audit to examine the force’s hiring and promotion practices, as well as gender and sexual harassment issues and its entire equity performance.

“With the strength of support from a diverse range of community groups across the GTA, such as the Association of Black Law Enforcers, the Law Union of Ontario, Black Lives Matter and the South Asian Lawyers Association, we are all coming together,” Khatkur said after the meeting.

“P-CARD and all these other groups do not have anything against the police personally or senior officers such as Chief Evans. But when the data and the evidence, provided largely by the Star, is so overwhelming, we have to force them to act. They’re just not doing it on their own.”

In September, the Star reported on its analysis of five years of data, obtained through freedom of information laws, which showed that black residents of Brampton and Mississauga were three times more likely to be carded by Peel police than white residents.

In October, more data obtained by the Star showed that while 60 per cent of the cities’ population were visible minorities in 2010, only 13 per cent of the force’s uniform officers were visible minorities. And at the time, only five per cent of senior officers were visible minorities.

The Star subsequently reported that 60 Peel officers had been disciplined for serious misconduct since 2010, including sexual harassment, and that about 30 per cent of the force — 640 officers — had been disciplined over a five-year period for less serious misconduct.

In her presentation, Khatkur highlighted what she described as Evans’ refusal to co-operate in releasing the information.

She said officers have approached her group to complain about "nepotism and cronyism" in the force's hiring and promotions practices.

A case before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal is dealing with a systemic racism allegation against Peel police and the board prior to its current leadership. Staff Sgt. B.J. Sandhu, of South Asian heritage, alleges he was denied promotion because of an institutionalized culture of discrimination within the force.

The force has denied the allegations. A decision in the case is expected this summer.

Crombie said an independent audit will help the board get a clearer picture of how the force operates. She said she wants to ensure officers charged with misconduct aren’t promoted ahead of those with clean records.

“Peel police are reporting that they are undertaking a number of measures with respect to diversity and equity within the force,” Crombie, who led the motion for the independent audit, told the Star later.

“While I respect their efforts, it is our job as Peel Police Services Board members to ensure that these measures are having the desired effect… We’ve heard from some in the community, including P-CARD, that they do not feel their voice is being heard within Peel Police and that these programs may not be having the desired effect.”

Ahluwalia promised a change in direction after he became chair, and in April the board fired its longtime executive director, Fred Biro, a close ally of Evans who supported her pro-carding stance.

“The community has lost faith in the chief,” said La Tanya Grant, who works with Black Lives Matter and attended the meeting. “The police are like a band of brothers; that’s no secret. If we want to really find out why black and brown people aren’t being hired or promoted by Peel police and why so many in the community feel routinely discriminated against and targeted by Peel police, how can we ask the police department to review themselves?”

Grant said she will ask the board to probe, through the audit, why the force appears to hire so many people who live outside Brampton in places such as Barrie.

“Almost three-quarters of Brampton are visible minorities. They can’t get jobs with Peel police. We need people who reflect and understand the community.”

Grant said she would even consider applying, if the force makes a commitment “to really work with the community.”

“This independent audit is what we really need to really get some changes.”

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